Qualifying Report

The 30-minute session started with a dry track, so all cars were running on slick
tyres. Tom Black driving the Vantage Racing # 24 car set the early pace, he was
being chased hard by Adrian Johnson in the Adrian Johnson Racing # 14 car,
Desmond Smail in the Mardis Gras # 5 car was also setting some very competitive lap
times, as was Bolaji Odsunsi in the Track-Club.com # 20 car. As the majority of the grid
started to pit for their driver changes it was Bolaji Odunsi and Richard Hope in car # 20
holding the provisional pole position, Adrian Johnson in car # 14 was second and third
was Tom Black and Alan Bonner in car # 24. With less than 15 minutes remaining Dave
West driving the # 7, MB racing car, moved in to second position, Sid Sadique in the
Stratton Motorsport # 88 car ran wide on the exit of the Old Hairpin and ended up in
the gravel, the car was recovered by the marshalls and returned to the pits. With ten
minutes to go Alan Bonner now driving the # 24 car took the provisional pole with a
fantastic lap, Tim Eakin and Richard Taffinder in the Ultimate Speed # 56 car moved
into second position and Richard Hope in the # 20 machine was in third. With less than
5 minutes remaining Alan Bonner locked up under braking and went off into the tyre
wall on the exit of the Old Hairpin, race control made the decision to red flag the
session on the grounds of safety. This meant that it was Tom Black and Alan Bonner
in the Vantage Racing # 24 car that would claim pole position for the first time this
season.

Race Report

The circuit conditions for the 2-hour race were very tricky as the track was wet but
drying, most cars opted for slick tyres, Tim Eakin driving the # 56 Ultimate Speed
car pitted at the end of the green flag lap to change from wets to slicks, and this
meant he would have to start from the pit lane. Alan Bonner started the race in the
Vantage Racing # 24 car from pole position, leading the pack into Redgate on the
first lap. The gap left by Tim Eakin starting from the pit lane was soon filled by the
TrackClub.com # 20 car of Bolaji Odunsi taking second position and the MB Racing
# 7 entry of Mike Brown in third. At the end of lap 3 the # 47 Stratton Motorsport car of
Stuart Patterson had fought his way through the field to second position, he had opted
for wet tyres and this proved to be a good choice in the early stages of the race. On lap
4 Bolaji spun on the entry to Redgate beaching the car in the gravel, the car was
recovered and made its way back to the pits and later would rejoin the race.

Olivier Bouche in the Stratton Motorsports with Immun`age and Osato # 22 car was
flying through the field and by lap 7 was hunting down the leader, then on lap 9 Olivier
found a way passed Alan to take the lead. Mike Brown in car # 7 ran wide on the exit of
Mcleans on lap 10 ending up on the very wet grass and hitting the barrier, Mike
managed to recover the car and returned to the pits and the MB racing crew made
some repairs to the front of the car and sent him back into the race. On Lap 11 Cars 14
and 56 came together on the entry to the Craner curves and both cars span off on the
grass, the # 14 car of Adrian Johnson returned to the pits for repairs while the # 56 car
of Tim Eakin continued without any problem. By Lap 15 the track was starting to dry out
and Alan Bonner in car # 24 was starting to close in on Olivier Bouche in the # 22 car.

The pit window opened at the 30 minute mark and the first to pit for stop one of the two
mandatory stops was Mike Brown in the # 7 car handing over to Paul Cripps for the
second stint. Sid Sadique in the # 88 Stratton Motorsport with 88 racing car was next to
stop but Sid remained behind the wheel for stint two. The # 47 Stratton Motorsport car
of Stuart Patterson stopped next to hand over to Mark Walker, Stuart overshot the pit
area and had to reverse back to his mark, as reversing is not allowed in the pit lane
race control gave the 47 crew a drive through penalty. On lap 27 the leader pitted with
Olivier Bouche handing over to Pierre Mantello.

Desmond Smail in the # 5 Mardi Gras car was having a great battle with Chris Kemp in
the # 91 Stratton Motorsport car and the # 62 Stratton Motorsport with TeamWrinkle200
entry of Kenneth Greenberg.

Alan Bonner pitted from the lead on lap 42 to hand over to Tom Black in the Vantage
Racing # 24 car and two laps later Tom pitted again to take the teams second
mandatory stop. Desmond Smail hadn’t pitted at this stage and was now the leader at
the 45 lap mark; Chris Kemp in car # 91 was second and third was the # 22 car of
Pierre Mantello now at the wheel. On lap 47 Desmond pitted to hand over to Julian
Reddyhough in the Mardi Gras # 5 car and two laps later Chris Kemp pitted in the
Stratton Motorsport # 47 entry for the first of his stops, Chris was driving on his own for
this event so still had a lot of work to do.

Paul Cripps pitted on lap 47 to hand over driving duties to Dave West for the final stint in
the # 7 MB racing car. The news came through from race control that the Vantage
racing 24 car had received a drive through penalty for not earthing the car while
refuelling, so Tom Black had to return to the pit lane for the third time.

On Lap 58 the rain returned making the conditions very treacherous again Tom Black in
car 24 span on the exit of Redgate just managing to get the car off the wet grass and
returning to the race, The Mardi Gras # 5 car of Julian Reddyhough went off at
Goddards hitting the barriers and unfortunately there was too much damage for the car
to continue in the race. On Lap 60 Pierre Mantello pitted from the lead to hand back
over to Olivier Bouche to finish the race in the # 22 car.

After all the pit stops had been completed it was the # 22 Stratton Motorsport with
Immun`age and Osato car leading second was # 24 Vantage racing # 24 car and
third was the Stratton Motorsport # 91 car with Chris Kemp at the wheel, fourth was
the hard charging Gavan Kershaw now driving the # 88 Stratton Motorsport with 88
racing machine who had taken over from Sid Sadique.

On lap 70 the sun had come out and there was a dry line starting to appear all round
the Donington Park circuit, Gavan Kershaw in the # 88 car managed to pass Chris
Kemp in # 91 to take third position and then set about catching Tom Black in the # 24
car. On lap 73 Gavan took second position from Tom but the leader couldn’t be
caught as Olivier Bouche in car # 22 was to far ahead for Gavan to catch in the time
remaining.

Dave West driving the MB racing # 7 machine was putting together some great laps
in the greasy conditions and had fought his way back to fifth passing Chris Kemp on
the last lap, but an error in refuelling at the last pit stop had meant not all of the
required fuel had gone into the car, this meant the # 7 car spluttered to a stop on the
exit of Coppice handing fifth place back to Chris Kemp with just one corner to go. Tim
Eakin and Richard Taffinder in the Ultimate Speed # 56 car had also had a very
eventful day as they had started from the pit lane and had a spin on the fastest
section of the track, but even with these adventures they had managed to secure
fourth spot which was a fantastic achievement.

The Checkered flag came out on lap 87 for Pierre Mantello and Olivier Bouche in the
Stratton Motorsport with Immun`age and Osato number 22 car who would win round
5 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain, second were Sid Sadique and
Gavan Kershaw in the # 88 Stratton Motorsport with 88 Racing entry and third
completing the podium positions, were Tom Black and Alan Bonner in the Vantage
Racing # 24 car who had also had a very eventful weekend.